Road Rage
by Erase99
Summary: Hey Hotaru, is that car following you? Don't forget, objects in mirror are closer than they appear...


Disclaimer: I don't own it…you should know the drill by now.

**Road Rage**

All was quiet in the Outer Senshi household one Friday night. Tenoh Haruka, world renowned Formula One race car driver, all around tough-gal, and the 'man' of the Tenoh/Kaioh/Meioh/Tomoe household sat on the couch before dinner…watching Card Captor Sakura.

(Ding Dong)

Grumbling under her breath, Haruka stretched and rose from the couch to answer the door. _This had better be good._ Haruka thought to herself. _I want to find out what the card for today is._ She reached the door in a few long strides, and taking a moment to compose herself, she opened the door. "We don't want anything." She said simply, and shut the door with a firm (Click!)

(Ding Dong)

Haruka had just barely sat down before the doorbell rang a second time. Cursing silently, she got back up, stalked to the door, and prepared to physically eject the doorbell-happy young man she found on her doorstep not a moment before.

"Sir, I'm not…"

"I thought I said we weren't interested, now buzz off!" Haruka interrupted.

"But, sir, I…"

"Oh, Adrian!" Michiru said, having just arrived in the entrance way. "You're right on time, Hotaru should be down in a minute, come on inside!" With that, she opened the door wider and gestured for him to enter the mansion.

"Thank you Michiru-san." The man now identified as Adrian said, grateful to have been extracted from the tense situation occurring just previously.

"Go ahead and have a seat in the living room, I'll tell Hotaru you're here." Michiru smiled, and headed upstairs to find her daughter.

Adrian nodded, and took a seat on the living room couch, trying his best to ignore Haruka's gaze of pure and utter loathing. He nearly had a coronary when the tall blonde decided to take a seat directly across from him on a recliner.

"So, you're taking my daughter on a date?" Haruka's voice was like venom to his ears.

"Yeah…I mean yes sir, I'm taking Hotaru out tonight…if you find it acceptable of course, sir…" Adrian stuttered, afraid to look the blonde in the face.

"Well, as a matter of fact, it's not…" Haruka began.

"A problem at all! How are you, Adrian? I trust you're adjusting to this new country well enough?" Setsuna interrupted, taking great care to stomp on Haruka's foot as she walked over to join them in the living room.

Haruka bit down on her tongue to stop herself from yelping in pain, making a mental note to shove Setsuna's new high heels up her backside next time she got the chance.

"I'm still experiencing a bit of culture shock, but I think I can get used to Tokyo." Adrian said, gratitude for the distraction plainly evident in his voice. "I'm having trouble remembering my way around Tokyo, though, it's a lot larger than Madrid." He admitted sheepishly.

"Well don't worry," Setsuna said reassuringly. "Hotaru knows her way around the city very well, you two shouldn't have any problems finding the restaurant."

It was at that moment that Hotaru made her entrance. Wearing a lovely black silk dress, she walked down the stairs to join the others in the living room. She lingered a moment halfway down the steps to take in the appreciative looks she was receiving from her date, and inwardly rolled her eyes at the withering stare she was receiving from her Haruka-papa.

"Wow, Hotaru, you look beautiful!" Adrian exclaimed. "Oh, and these are for you…" he produced a bouquet of red roses from behind his back. Haruka, for her part, wanted nothing more than to insert those roses into the little Romeo's pants.

Hotaru could only blush, taking a moment to smell the roses. "Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself in that tuxedo." She said, allowing a playful smirk to grace her features.

"Thanks." He said, taking her arm. "Well we'd better get going, our reservations are for 7:30. Thank you for your hospitality Michiru-san, Setsuna-san, and…um…Haruka-san..." He trailed off, noticing Haruka drawing a slow, threatening finger across her throat in silent warning.

Michiru took the roses from her daughters hand. "You two have fun, and take care!" She said, opening the door for them. The couple waved goodbye as they walked toward the Adrian's car out front.

"Get in the car, and drive!" Hotaru hissed.

"Huh?" Was the ever so intelligent reply.

"Quick, before my papa comes out with her tire iron!" She explained as he opened the passenger side door for her.

"A tire iron?" He exclaimed, and sprinted over to the driver side.

Michiru sighed happily as she watched her daughter and her date drive off into the distance. Closing the door, she turned around…to find Haruka pinning Setsuna on to the living room carpet, attempting to force-feed her a high heel shoe.

"Trample on my toes, will you? How'd you like to taste leather, you old hag!" The gleam in Haruka's eyes bordered on murderous.

"Old hag? Get your ass off me right this instant Tenoh, or you'll find yourself helping the Egyptians build the pyraMPHH! Setsuna's shoe found vacancy in her wide open mouth.

"Not on my new carpet you two!" Michiru stomped over and grabbed two ears, yanking the attached Senshi to their feet. "And you, Haruka, next time I find you terrorizing Hotaru's date, you're going to be communing with the couch for a month."

"But Michi…" Haruka whined.

"No buts, Hotaru's a grown woman now, she can date whomever she likes." Michiru crossed her arms in front of her chest, daring Haruka to challenge her again.

"Fine! Whatever!" Haruka threw her arms up into the air, and began heading toward the garage.

"Just where do you think you're going, Haruka?" Setsuna said, having just extracted the shoe from her windpipe.

"To work on my car! Someone who loves me back!" She said, pouting all the way out the door.

(Meanwhile...)

"Whew, got out of there just in a nick of time…" Hotaru breathed a sigh of relief, sparing a glance at her date. They were now safely out of psycho-Haruka-papa range, driving on the highway toward the Italian restaurant for their date. "My papa doesn't get along well with other guys."

"That sounds like an understatement."

"It was." She giggled.

They drove in silence for a few minutes, each of them wanting to start conversation, but not having the courage to say anything.

"Hey, so what happened during our Bio test last week? Did the teach let you take a make up?" He asked, making small talk.

"Yeah. Silly me, I forgot to put my phone on silent." She lied, cringing as she remembered that particular incident. "Once I explained it to the Dean, he got me off the hook." _It helped that the Dean is a violin music aficionado, I still have to thank Michiru-mama for that autographed cd she gave him…_

"That's good…" He trailed off, sparing a glance into his rearview mirror. "Hey, is it just me, or has that car been following us for a while?"

Hotaru turned around to look, "I can't tell, but they really need to get their lights toned down, I can't see anything save for their headlights."

"He's a little close too, why doesn't he just pass us?" He wondered out loud.

"I wouldn't worry about it, traffic is always pretty bad here, it always seems bumper to bumper, even at the slow times." She explained.

"I guess you're right, maybe I'm just being paranoid…" He admitted, dropping the subject.

"So, how do you like Japan so far?" She asked, eager to start the conversation back up.

"Well, I've pretty much got the language down. It's the customs, I'm worried about. I'm always afraid I'm going to do something that'll offend someone on accident." He admitted, sheepishly.

"Don't worry about that, I'll make sure and give you a good nudge if you're doing something weird." She laughed, placing a reassuring hand on his arm.

He sat speechless for a moment, enjoying the warmth of her touch. "Thanks." He finally managed to stutter, a rather unmanly blush creeping onto his face. He was saved further embarrassment when a flash of light caught him in the eye.

"Oww, man that's bright…" He said, blinking a couple times to clear his vision.

"Is that the same car you thought was following us?" She asked, looking out the back window of the car, intrigued.

He glanced into his rearview mirror, "Yeah, yeah it is. This guy really needs to get off my back!" He said, paranoia beginning to return.

"He's speeding up!" Hotaru said, alarm and confusion setting in.

"What? Okay, I'll try to lose him." He said, taking an exit. Much to their dismay, their pursuer followed. "Persistent fellow…" He muttered. "Let's see him follow this." He said, executing a quick, last second turn that led them back onto the highway.

"It's no use, he's still behind us!" Hotaru was now sitting backward in her seat, keeping an eye on their stalker.

"Are you kidding me? How are going to shake this guy?" Adrian was beginning to sweat.

"Okay, let's both just stay calm here," Hotaru said, beginning to freak out. "I mean, you've been driving just fine, okay well a little fast maybe, but I don't think you cut anyone off or anything…or maybe you did and just didn't notice it, I've done that lots of times…" Hotaru rambled on, herself starting to worry.

"Is there some driving etiquette here that I don't know about? I hope he's not offended. I don't think I did anything wrong." Paranoia was replaced by fear as he found himself rambling incoherently as well.

"What if they're Yakuza? I mean, you haven't done anything to piss off the Mafia here, have you? What if they want to kidnap us and hold us for ransom? I've got famous parents! Maybe they're planning on using us as their bargaining chip?" She was nearly shouting by now. Their fear and paranoia began feeding off each other's and Hotaru was now bordering on the hysterical.

"No!" Adrian said firmly. "I won't allow that to happen!" He exclaimed, the light of chivalry flashing in his eyes.

"Adrian, no! I couldn't ask you to risk your life for me!" She pleaded, hugging his arm as he sped up to evade their pursuers, with the mobster still hot on their tails. She gazed into his eyes, "I…I…I…" She trailed off, something else catching her eye.

"What? What is it?" He asked, concern evident in his voice.

Violet eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as she looked into the rearview mirror. "I know that car…" The mere sound of her voice as she spoke those words made his hair stand on end. She opened up her purse and pulled out her cell phone. "Give me a sec, and don't worry about that car behind us, I'll take care of it." She said reassuringly, dialing a number on her cell phone.

"Hello, mama? Yeah, it's me. She's doing IT again…could you take care of it?" She said. "Thanks a bunch…what? MAMA! Yes I have some…but…oh god, I can't believe you just asked me that! You don't trust me at all, do you? Okay, okay I promise. Okay, love you too…bye!" She snapped her phone shut.

"Who were you talking to?"

"My mom." She said, glancing into the rearview mirror. _3…2…1…_ She smirked as the car behind them suddenly began to swerve violently. _Kyoto, we have a problem…_ She watched with grim satisfaction as the offending car straightened itself, and pulled onto a off ramp, speeding away. _Michiru-mama must have yelled pretty loud that time…_

"Wow…I'm not even going to ask…" He said, having witnessed the entire spectacle.

"It's better you don't." She agreed, hugging his arm once again. "Now, where were we?" She asked, smiling up at him.

He smiled down at her, "Well, I know this great restaurant…" he began.

(Later on that night…)

Hotaru placed a hand to her lips, replaying in her mind the scene that occurred just moments ago. The date had gone absolutely fantastic. After dinner and the play that they had seen at the theater, he dropped her back off at her house. Of course, she wasn't about to let him go without some sort of reward for his effort. After recalling the memory of their shared kiss for the eighth time, she took a deep breath, and prepared herself for what would surely come next.

(Meanwhile…)

She was in trouble, Haruka wasn't even going to bother denying it. It was 12:00 am, and there she sat on the couch of her home, awaiting the arrival of her daughter. To her left, stood Setsuna, garnet eyes flashing with promised retribution. On her right, stood Michiru, her arms folded across her chest, gazing at her lover sternly. They had stood like sentinels all night, making sure that she didn't attempt to escape the house. She knew that the moment Hotaru came home, she was going to get it, severely. Never in a million years, though, could she have prepared herself for what happened next. Haruka nearly wet herself when Sailor Saturn walked through the front door, looking every bit like the Angel of Death she was. Haruka fell to her knees, bawling like a baby. "Hime-chan! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!" She begged.

"You…" Sailor Saturn began, pointing her Glaive at her papa. "I can't believe you! Every freaking time I go out on a date! You…I…AUGHH!" Sailor Saturn dropped her Glaive, making everyone in the room jump, and began pulling her hair. She hopped up and down in place, fistfuls of hair in her hands. "I am just so...ah! I don't even know what to say to you right now I'm so damn mad!" She continued her tantrum, stomping the floor loudly. Then she stopped, "You know what? I had a wonderful night, and I don't even want to deal with you right now. I'm going up to my room, goodnight everyone." She said calmly, picking up her Glaive and heading upstairs to her room.

"Looks like someone is going to spend a lot of money saying 'sorry' tomorrow." Setsuna said pointedly, heading upstairs to her bedroom.

"I agree, and if it's MY credit card you take tomorrow, you'd best not even bother coming home, Haruka." Michiru said, eyes burning a hole into Haruka's skull. With that, she started for the master bedroom. Haruka followed close behind, head hung low in shame.

(Slam!)

"Ouch!" Haruka said, rubbing her forehead. "Michi, what was that for?" She asked. The door to their bedroom opened, and Michiru thrust a pillow and blankets into Haruka's arms. She gave Haruka a look that could melt stone.

"That's what you get for tailgating people."

_END_

Wow, that took a lot longer to get out than I though it would, sorry folks. Work and classes kind of just conspired to dump a bunch of stuff on me over course of the week, so I never got a chance to sit down and just plug away at it until now. Anyway, hopefully illness did not impede my sense of humor any, though I'm depending on you all to let me know for sure, and you can do that by clicking the little button that says 'review' on it down at the bottom. Thanks in advance, and I'll see ya'll next time! Peace!


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